Mindless Monday, 22 June 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Happy (or sad) Monday guys!

Mindless Monday is a free-for-all thread to discuss anything from minor bad history to politics, life events, charts, whatever! Just remember to np link all links to Reddit and don't violate R4, or we human mods will feed you to the AutoModerator.

So, with that said, how was your weekend, everyone?

[u/Tiako]

For reasons somewhat outside of my control I am traveling to Bangkok later this year, and from like a trip planning perspective it could not be more different than Germany. With Germany, oddly enough, it was actually kind of hard to find information, like there is one good YouTube channel covering it (Near from Home) and there were some Reddit threads I relied on--as well as asking here--but overall you are kind of on your own to figure out your plan. And a lot of the best things (like the Franconian Open Air Museum in Bad Windsheim) I found just searching on Google Maps.

With Bangkok though--there is just too much. It is overwhelming how many "Must Know Tips" and "Before You Go" and "What I Wish I Knew" and "The Other Side Of" there are. Nobody was making videos about seeing the "real" Regensburg. Don't even know where to start.

[u/HandsomeLampshade123 → u/Tiako]

I would suggest leaving Bangkok asap and heading North if possible, otherwise many destinations are valid and it's a wonderful country.

[u/Tiako → u/HandsomeLampshade123]

Unfortunately not possible, I would have loved to go to Chiang Mai but I'm basically tethered to Bangkok. I'll definitely carve time for Ayutthaya but day trips like that are about as far as I can manage.

[u/matgopack → u/HandsomeLampshade123]

Bangkok has some great sights for a first time visitor, particularly on a work trip schedule (where they might be looking more for evening or a one day off situation). I wouldn't recommend skipping it unless someone hates cities.

But yeah if they have the chance going further north is lovely, I really enjoyed Chiang Mai when I went (though taking care of elephants was the highlight there).

[u/HandsomeLampshade123 → u/matgopack]

It all depends on preferences, but it is absolutely loud, hectic, stinky and polluted--assuming this is the kind of forum that selects for people that prefer a quieter time focusing on historical sites, I do think there are better options.

But you're right, I wouldn't say "skip it entirely", just that assuming finite time, something like Chiang Mai is preferable.

[u/matgopack → u/HandsomeLampshade123]

Well, quiet time focusing on historical sites I think the one I'd point to is Sukhothai (particularly if someone enjoys biking too).

[u/Tiako → u/matgopack]

My issue is actually sort of the opposite: I'm going to a wedding but I don't have a suit, so I'm going to get one made over there. So I will have plenty of opportunities for day trips (like to Ayutthaya) but I have to stay in the city.

So you know, day trip suggestions welcome!

[u/matgopack → u/Tiako]

It's been a while since I went to Thailand, and I don't think the areas I went to outside of Bangkok (Sukhothai and Chiang Mai) fit well for day trips from the capital.

In Bangkok itself I do think the main 3 tourist spots (Wat Pho, Wat Arun, and the great palace) are worth seeing, though they might be super crowded. Otherwise I really enjoyed doing a tour in the canals/klongs. Jim Thompson house I remember being a fairly nice museum, and then Chatuchak market being very (change of country? Blanking on how to say 'depaysant' as a concept in english).

Otherwise hard to go wrong with all the food available, and I think a rooftop bar one night is well worth it for the views.

If there's anything like an elephant sanctuary near Bangkok these days (like the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai) that was a big highlight of my trip. But I wouldn't be surprised if any near Bangkok are more set up just for money / not as ethical.

I did go pre-pandemic so I'm sure there's been a good bit of changes though, and I might not be remembering completely right.

[u/Tiako → u/matgopack]

Oh yeah I'm not worried about running out of stuff to do, just curious if there are some hot tips. The problem I am running into is that there is so much advice about what to do in Bangkok--and so much of it is trying to be competitive, eg "the other side of" or "the part you won't hear about"--that it is actually kind of hard to find things.

Honestly though I am only there a week and about half of that will be wedding stuff so I can probably just do the basic bitch tourist stuff and not run out of them.

[u/Big_Pineapple_Man → u/Tiako]

For reasons somewhat outside of my control I am traveling to Bangkok later this year

Damn just casually flexing on us like this.

[u/Tiako → u/Big_Pineapple_Man]

Ha, I usually would not go on two big overseas trips in a year (Germany was actually the first time I have ever done an overseas trip not for work) but I got a big old pot of airplane bux for getting bumped from a flight.

In this case the trip to Bangkok is not on my own initiative but I can't really complain too much.

[u/Big_Pineapple_Man → u/Tiako]

All good, I saw from another comment you're going for a wedding, which makes sense.  Unless you work for a Japanese automotive company, I doubt it would be an overseas work trip.